Brittney Griner scored 22 points and Diana Taurasi made two critical baskets down the stretch as the visiting Phoenix Mercury held off the Atlanta Dream 82-80 on Friday night.
Taurasi finished with 18 points and Kahleah Copper scored 16 for the Mercury (16-14).
Allisha Gray scored 22 points, Rhyne Howard had 16, Tina Charles added 14 points and 13 rebounds and Jordin Canada scored 13 to lead the Dream (10-18).
Atlanta scored the first four points of the third quarter to get within 48-45. The Dream trimmed their deficit to three a second time before Griner’s field goal and Taurasi’s 3-pointer pushed the Mercury’s lead to 57-49.
Canada’s 3-pointer pulled the Dream within four points before Natasha Cloud’s jumper left the Mercury with a 65-59 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Phoenix’s Celeste Taylor made a 3-pointer to start the fourth-quarter scoring before Gray and Howard each made a 3-pointer to pull Atlanta within 69-67.
Griner scored the Mercury’s next six points to increase the lead to 75-69 with 5:17 left, but Gray scored the next five points to get the Dream within one point. Taurasi made a jumper and a 3-pointer to give Phoenix an 80-74 lead with 2:04 remaining.
Gray made a 3-pointer and Howard added two free throws to get the Dream within one with 13.4 seconds left. Copper answered with a basket, Howard missed a 3-pointer and Charles made one of two free throws with 0.6 left.
The Mercury needed a little more than two minutes to surpass their first-quarter scoring total in a 72-63 loss at Atlanta on Wednesday. After falling behind 19-6 in the opening period Wednesday, Phoenix took a quick 7-4 lead with 7:54 left in the first before Canada’s 3-pointer tied the score.
But the Dream never took the lead and Griner’s three-point play broke the tie. The Mercury led by as many as eight points before holding a 24-17 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Howard’s 3-pointer started the second-quarter scoring, but Taurasi scored five points to help Phoenix open an 11-point lead. Atlanta got as close as five points before Copper scored five points to help rebuild the lead to 44-33.
Maya Caldwell and Gray each made a 3-pointer and the Dream trimmed the deficit to 48-41 at halftime.
–Field Level Media